A Chanchangi aircraft to Kaduna yesterday made an emergency landing at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Lagos, after the engine number one of the airplane was hit by birds shortly after take-off from Lagos. The flight number was given as NCH334.
According to an official of the airline, the aircraft, a B737-400 with registration number 5N-BIF with 109 passengers onboard departed the domestic airport at 5 p.m. as part of its schedule to Kaduna. He added that Captain Raymond immediately radioed air traffic controllers for an emergency air return when he discovered that he had lost an engine to ingestion of birds.
Following the successful landing of the aircraft, the airplane was seen parked on the apron of the domestic wing of the Lagos airport just as officials of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) inspectors moved quickly to inspect the aircraft.
Director-General of the NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren confirmed the incident to The Guardian, saying, “Yes, the aircraft had emergency successful air return this (yesterday) evening. Our men moved to the area to inspect the aircraft. We are monitoring their operations.”
One of the passengers who spoke to The Guardian narrated the situation. The passenger who pleaded anonymity said: “We took off around past 5pm with no problem with the aircraft. The aircraft from its movement showed that it was in good condition. Shortly after we took off, we began to notice some kind of funny sound. Captain Raymond announced that we have lost an engine as a result of birds. He calmed us that he would make a return to base and we landed safely without any problem after the air traffic controllers cleared the aircraft for emergency landing”
The bird strikes have been on the rise for sometime, leading to airlines threatening to sue the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) over the menace that has cost them over N12 billion.
Just last week, FAAN said it would now collaborate with airlines to fight bird strike, which is a threat to safety and costs a lot of damage to aircraft.
Managing Director of FAAN, Mr. Richard Aisuebeogun, said the agency would meet with concerned stakeholders in the aviation industry this month in a workshop to deliberate on final solutions to the problem.
The workshop, according to him would be organized by the Directorate of Environmental Services and would be part of the agency’s scope of providing safe and efficient airport operating environment in order to attain the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority’s and the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) aerodrome certification of airports.
Though Aisuebeogun said the date for the workshop would, in due course, be made public, he stressed that “the workshop will bring together all airlines representatives, officials of FAAN and the industry regulator to discuss and come up with the best strategy of tackling the issue of bird’s strike which has become a source of concern to the sector in recent times.”
He added: “The fight against bird strike should be a collective one by all stakeholders in the aviation industry. Most of the airlines, both domestic and international, which are pointing accusing fingers at FAAN, have not really been supportive.”
Jun122010